falling stars
by tatty ted
Summary: Sister Brigid finds a newborn baby underneath a cross in her church while Doctor Weatherill treats a young girl bleeding heavily. When it appears the two patients are related and are mother and son, can Sister Brigid convince a scared fifteen year old that she can be a good mother and all she needs is a little help and support? - —Sister Brigid/OC.
1. CHAPTER I

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**CHAPTER ONE**.  
_run, run, runaway._

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She sits in the church with this tiny baby in her arms. He's quiet, silent, sucking on the dummy that's in his mouth. The baby's unaware of whats about to happen, that his mother — the person who's meant to protect him — is going to leave him.

She sighs softly and holds the baby closer.

She kisses him not once but twice, strokes his cheek with her fingers and leaves him underneath the cross. She whispers goodbye and begins to walk away. The slam of the church doors startle her and she stops.

This, this wasn't meant to happen.

She knocks over something, the piece of metal crashing and breaking against the floor.

"Father?" The girl holds her breath as the footsteps come closer and closer and she closes her eyes. She hopes that her little boy won't start crying otherwise whoever it is will find her here. She can't be found, if she is her plan will fail.

This is her only chance of freedom and its slowly slipping away.

The footsteps stop and she's lured into a false sense of security that perhaps the persons gone. She goes to leave but she feels a pair of arms around her, "No you don't."

She struggles against the woman but surprisingly she's stronger than Willow thought and all she can do is beg; "Please, please let me go." She struggles again desperate to run, desperate to be free from the monsters in her mind.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you."

The baby cries and it occurs to the woman that they're not alone in the church. Sister Brigid's back is turned for a second and when she looks back, she's alone with this baby, the girl nowhere to be seen. She follows the cry of the child to the cross and finds a newborn child.

She sighs, bends down and picks up the child; "Ssh." She whispers as she holds the child closer.

The baby, finding warmth and comfort settles again.

/

There's a wall near the pier and she's perched on the edge, swinging her legs backwards and forwards. She's staring at the sea but its not making her feel any better, in fact she still feels sick and lightheaded.

She wonders if it is natural to feel this way, after all she had been in labour for six hours, alone. She stands up with the intention of fixing her school tie but she finds the earth spinning. Then she hits the floor and loses consciousness a pool of blood forming around her.

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**jottings** — this is going to be terrible but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review:3


	2. CHAPTER II

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**CHAPTER TWO**.  
_shine bright like a diamond._

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"Unknown female, found on the pier bleeding heavily."

Lying on the bed, bleeding heavily in casualty is Willow, a blonde haired teenager. She'd lost a good portion of blood already that she was cold and pale. Doctor Weatherill looked at the girl and wondered what caused a child of this age to lose this amount of blood.

"Could she be on her period?"

Jill shook her head, "There's too much blood for a menstrual cycle."

She thinks she knows what it is but it's a crazy suggestion when the girl isn't even fifteen. Yet it's the only thing that seems to fit. Severe bleeding such as this is usually common after child-birth; "I think it's a postpartum haemorrhage, it would fit with the severity of the bleed."

"But don't you only get that after—"

"Birth? Yes I know."

/

The baby is lying on the bed, wriggling around whilst Doctor Goodwin presses the stethescope to his chest. The coldness of the metal sends a chill down the child's spine and he squeels loudly, "Do you know who the mother is?"

"I disturbed her and this little one."

"This one's going to need her." Doctor Goodwin returns his stethescope around his neck and smiles sadly; "He's hypothemic and very anemic, he's going to need to be kept in." He picks up the baby, holds him close and carries him to then ward, closely followed by Sister Brigid.

/

"Can you find any babies that aren't accounted for?" Jill says to the Nurse who nods and leaves the room. She turns her attention to the young girl sleeping peacefully and wonders how a child so sweer and innocent was driven to desperate measures.

The girl stirs, unaware that she's not alone and turns onto her side gently.

"Hello?"

She blinks several times, looking around the room puzzled; "Where am I?"

"You're in The Royal, you collapsed. You lost a lot of blood, what's your name?" The girl fiddles with her fingers and bites her lower lip hard. She's in two minds whether to say her real name or lie. It would be easier to lie but she comes to the conclusion, it won't hurt being honest.

"Willow, Willow Sage."

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**jottings** — definitely not medically correct but i'm not a doctor:3 don't forget the usual, favourite/alert/review.


	3. CHAPTER III

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**CHAPTER THREE**.  
_you've built your wall so high_.

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"Willow, we've managed to stop the bleeding by removing the placenta but—" Willow closes her eyes knowing what the Doctor's going to say next. She didn't want to answer, they were most likely annoyed that she'd wasted their time.

"You want to know where the baby is don't you? I left him underneath a cross in the church, he was premeature but he was alive. You're not going to make me keep him are you?"

She loved her little boy more than anything in the world and that's exactly why she left him where she had. She had no life, stuck in a rut with no chance of ever escaping and she wasn't going to let her little boy have that same life.

He deserved better than to have a failing mother, he didn't need to be punished for her mistake.

"No I'm not going to make you keep him, I promise. What church did you leave him in?"

"I don't know the name but it's the one by the pier." Jill goes to leave the girl alone and Willow turns over on her side and sobs her heart out. She thought it would've been easy to runaway before anybody noticed her and her missing child.

Oh how she should've known it wouldn't have been so simple.

/

She hands around near the baby unit, looking through the window where the mothers and babies are. She doesn't know which baby is hers but she knows he's got to be here, he's _got _to be.

She turns quickly when she notices somebody staring at her and she walks along the corridor.

"Hello?" The voice calls and she stops suddenly in the middle of the corridor. She recognises the voice as belonging to the woman in the church this morning and as she looks up from the floor, her eyes falling upon Sister Brigid.

Before Willow has the chance to say anything Sister Brigid says; "Your the girl from the church aren't you?"

Willow can't help but break down in tears, sobs overwhelming her body. Sister Brigid looks at the child (because really, that's all she is), puts her arm around her and whispers soothingly; "Ssh, everything's going to be okay."

/

"Why did you leave him at the church?" For a moment Willow doesn't answer, she just scratches the palm of her hand, nervously. All she wants to do is sleep and never wake up, after all she's feels terrible for failing her only child, her only son.

"I thought it would be the safest place. I knew God would look after him." She pauses, "He is okay isn't he? He's not dead?"

Sister Brigid shakes her head and answers; "He's very poorly but he's alive."

"What's wrong with him?"

"The Doctor says he's anemic and hypothermic but other than that he's healthy. You can see him if you like." Willow doesn't answer. It took all her strength to leave him the first time round at the church. To leave him again for a second time would definitely break her heart.

"I can't." She whispers, "It hurt leaving him the first time."

"You don't have to leave him. There are people out there to help you."

"What if I'm a rubbish mother? What if I fail him? What if I hurt him? What if?"

"You won't." Sister Brigid reasurres, "You'll be a good mother, you just need a little help that's all."

Willow doesn't speak for a moment before she looks up, makes eye contact with Sister Brigid and asks; "Will it be okay to see him?"

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**jottings** — if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review:3


	4. EPILOGUE

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**EPILOGUE**.  
_you tried to scream._

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She holds the child close to her chest and sings softly; "Well the sun is surely sinking down, but the moon is slowly raising. So this old world must be still spinning 'round and I still love you so close your eyes."

She's called her little boy Ethan and every day he's becoming stronger and stronger. She's allowed to take him home after a week and now, she's sat in her flat, alone with this beautiful baby boy that she almost gave up for adoption. He suckles on her finger and she smiles, feeling content at last.

She wasn't perfect and neither was her life but that didn't matter.

For the moment all that mattered was her and Ethan and as long as they were happy, everything else could wait.

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**jottings** — a very short story written over two weeks on my mobile. thank you for the reviews/favourite/alerts, it means a lot. sorry if its out of character or anything, i'm still rather new to the royal, don't shoot me, just be kind. thanks:3


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